.f^i 







/ 







T H E 




bl 



ic life 



rounds 



OF CHICAGO. 



'^OW TO (jlVE THEM fHAKACTER AND 



-^ XPRESSION. 



CH\C\(.0: 

ChAKI.EL. D. I.AKl'.V, PUBI.IMIKIC, 115 MaDISoN :-. 1 KK 
OKKICK OK THE AMliKlCAN BUILUKK. 

r;<.<;. 




Glass_i 5^0 



Book. 



CskO 



^/^& 



(^ Vo 



THE 



m 



ublic 




rounds 



OF CHICAGO. 



ji 



OW TO GIVE THEM (HARACTER AND fTxPRESSION. 



r- 



r 



By H. ^^. S. Cleveland. 



SECOND EDITION. 



CHICAGO: 

Charles D. Lakey, Publisher, 115 MadisoU Street, 

office of the american builder. 

1869. 



From the Nation, Netv Y'ork. 
" Mr. Cleveland is a professional landscape gardener of long experience and good taste. Casting 
aside all questions of health and tradition he discusses the esthetics of the subject. * * 

* * * » When men like Dr. Ranch and Mr. Cleveland begin to discuss these subjects, 
public attention will be aroused, and w-e may believe that not Chicago and Boston only, but all 
the large cities in the United States will have their Prater, or Bois de Boulogne, or Champs 
Elysee, or Central Park." 

Front the Boston Courier. 

"'The Public Grounds of Chicago. How to give them Character and Expression,' is the title 
of a pamphlet just received by us, which we understand to be the production of Horace W. S. 
Cleveland, well known in this vicinity for his remarkable skill and taste as a landscape gardener. 
An admirable article written by him, developing a judicious plan for beautifying the neighborhood 
of Boston, was published in this paper a few months ago. Mr. Cleveland has now taken up his 
residence in Chicago, and cannot but prove a great acquisition to the 'Garden City."" 
From the Salem {Mass.) Gazette. 

" In this pamphlet Mr. Cleveland shows, in a clear and attractive style, what other cities have 
done, and what Boston may do, introductory to an exhaustive exposition of what Chicago may do, 
and which if done, will make that busy hive one of the most attractive cities in the country." 
From the {Phil' a) Jorirnal of the Farm. 

" This handsome pamphlet is from the vigorous pen of Mr. H. W. S. Cleveland, the well- 
known landscape gardener. * * * We have not space to refer to the particular suggestions 
of Mr. Cleveland, but a complete perusal of them has satisfied us that he understands the subject 
fully, and that if his suggestions are carried out, Chicago will boast parks and a boulevard among 
the finest in the world." 

From the Chicago Tribune. 

" Mr. Cleveland has an abiding faith that the devices of the landscape gardener can triumph 
over the obstacles which nature interposes, and make the flat, unbroken surface ' a thing of beauty 
and a joy forever.' Making due allowance for professional enthusiasm, and calculating also the 
immense difficulties which Mr. Cleveland would have to overcome, his plan for the boulevard 
improvement is sufficiently novel, and if at once completed would be sufficiently beautiful to warrant 
us in giving it in detail." 

From the Chicago Times. 
'"A large portion of this handsome pamphlet is descriptive of the capability and accomplishment 
of other cities in the matter of parks, introducing New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Brooklyn and 
Boston. This is very interesting, and is written by one who is not only familiar with the scenes, 
but competent to examine the relative merits of the plans on scientific and artistic principles. Vet 
the really useful portion of the book is in regard to the decoration of our new park lands." 
From the A merican Builder. 

''We have delayed any notice of this pamphlet in order to learn the verdict of the press. 
That it would be well received we did not doubt, as Mr. Cleveland has such a pleasant way of 
presenting his thoughts, and there is such a June freshness about his ideas, that they cannot but 
be well received. But we were not prepared for such a sens^on as the pamphlet has produced. 

* * * * This unpretending pamphlet contains plans for the parks of two great cities 
totally unlike anything that has hitherto been thought of, and as.it is no unusual thing for inventors 
to lose their just reward, it is quite probable that others may re^ where Mr. Cleveland has sown. 
He is a man of original ideas and a thorough artist in his profession. We trust that our citizens 
will not be slow to ayail themselves of the benefits to be derived from his varied and ripe experience 
in the noble art of landscape gardening."' 

From Geo. B. Emerson, Esq., Boston, Author of ^' Trees and Shrubs of Massachnsetis.'' 
" I ought before this to have acknowledged the receipt of your admirable pamphlet, which I 
read with great delight. I have never .seen anything better. It recommends a plan singularly 
well fitted for the improvement of the vicinity of Boston, and another equally adapted to the 
peculiarities of Chicago,"" 

From Geo. M. Dexter, Esq., Boston. 
" I have read the treatise on public grounds which you were kind enough to send me. It is 
most admirable and by far the most sensible and correct view of the subject I have ever met with 
It reaches the point exactly and will do the community great good to have it circulated widely. 

* * * * I should like to see the whole thing put into Mr. Cleveland's hands inmiediately." 

From Hon. Amos. A. Lawrence, Boston . 
" It would be fur the interest of the towns in the vicinity of Boston to spend a large sum funli- 
with in the way you suggest." 



THE PUBLIC GROUNDS OF CHICAGO. 




WHAT OTHER CITIES HAVE DONE. 

T is onl}' within a few years that untraveled Americans 
Pf-^jhave been able to learn, from actual inspection, what is 
^/^]| meant by a park. In 1S56 the area of the present Central 
'Park of New York was a wild, barren looking tract as could 
well be imagined, possessed indeed of highly picturesque features in 
the form of huge ledges of rock, abrupt hills and deep ravines, but no 
wood, no water, and only occasionally a spot on which the natural soil 
possessed enough fertility to sustain a growth of grass. From this 
unpromising material, a garden has been created which comprises a 
very great variety of beautiful and picturesque scenery, artistically 
developed to secure the best etlects of wood, shi'ubbery, lawn and 
water, and adorned with buildings, bridges, and structures of various 
kinds, whose ornamental architecture serves happily to unite the nat- 
ural features of the ground with the purely artificial surroundings of 
the city, which is to encompass them. The engineering work of the 
Central Park has been done in the most thorough manner, and the 
enormous work of grading, draining and road making, which has been 
performed, cannot be ap^Di'eciated even by those who know the diffi- 
culties they involve, without a careful examination of the engineer's 
reports. In the conception and carrying out of the work, New York 
has passed through the various stages of feeling, which are the insep- 
arable attendants, in every community, of large outlays for public 
purposes. First, the suggestion of the expediency or necessity of 
the proposed improvement ; then opposition and ridicule, discussion 
and argument, and finally the commencement and prosecution of 
the work, with exulting shouts from its advocates, and groaning pre- 
dictions of ruin from its opponents. The result was looked for with 
eager interest in other cities just as an individual watches the progress 



4 Central Park as an Investment. 

of a new investment of liis neighbor or rival as a criterion for him- 
self. And now that the Central Park has proved a success, and New 
York wonders that she could ever have existed without it, and lum- 
dreds of thousands of citizens and strangers are feasting annually 
upon its charms, and Brooklyn, which, in fact, is only an extension 
of New York, has followed suit with her Prospect Park, of nearly 
equal extent, and in some respects superior natural beauty, the 
other great cities of the land are becoming conscious of their defi- 
ciencies, and are beginning to realize that a park must be regarded 
as a necessity rather than a luxury. In this matter, however, we 
exhibit the same sheep-like propensity to follow a leader, which is 
observable in our individual habits of imitation in dress and style of 
building, which instead of being based upon their adaptation to our 
wants and peculiar personal features and characteristics, are adopted 
simply because they are fashionable. New York has set the fashion 
in the Central Park and her sister cities perceive that it becomes her, 
and so, forsooth, they must adorn themselves in like manner, or try 
to eclipse her by a more costly decoration. 

New York, being situated upon a long, narrow island, with no 
access to the country, on either side, except by the disagreeable pas- 
sage of a ferr}^, and with the fact in plain sight that the whole island 
will, in all probability, be covered with streets and houses within 
half a century, has exhibited a wise foresight in securing such a tract 
while it was yet in her power to do so, and preserving it forever as a 
source of comfort, health, and recreation for the people, whose 
palaces will surround it in future centuries and to whoni the land- 
marks of to-day will be as much objects of curiosity as those of the 
times of Peter Stuyvesant are to us. It is obvious that its present 
value to the city is as that of a mere toy, in comparison to what it 
will then 1)e. Now let us examine the conditions under which some 
of the other cities are bestirring themselves in the ellort to follow her 
example. 

THE PROPOSED PARK IN PHILADELPHIA. 

Philadelphia, who is always jealous if New York adds a new 
flounce to her dress, is, of course, the lirst to endeavor to surpass 
her in magnificence, and has projected a park, which, if executed 
according to programme, will indeed l)e one of the grandest works 
of the kind in the world, comprising natural features of such beauty 
and grandeur as art might vainly strive to rival, and whose develop- 



T/ic Park o,/ the Schuylkill. <, 

ment and arrangement for use as a park would involve an outlay 
compared to which the cost of the Central Park would seem like an 
economical expenditure. Tlie tract proposed for the purpose 
lies on both sides of the Schuylkill from Fairmount to the Wissa- 
hickon, including a considerable extent of the wild and picturesque 
valley of the latter stream. The area comprises upwards of two 
thousand acres, which, instead of being as the Central Park was, a 
tract of wild and almost unoccupied land, is dotted with villages, 
factories, villas and farms, of such intrinsic value that the mere pur- 
chase of the land would reciuire almost as large an expenditure as 
has served to construct the Central Park. The advocates of the 
scheme urge in its favor the fact that real estate has increased in 
value, in the neighborhood of Central Park, to such an extent that 
the work has actually proved a good in\estment, and they argue that 
the same results would follow in Philadelphia. But they lose sight 
of the fact that New York must of necessity extend around the 
Central Park, so that in no distant time it will be in the very heart 
of the city, whereas Philadelphia can be extended in almost any 
direction and is more likely to be so towards the west than up 
the Schuylkill. The lands in the vicinity of the proposed park, 
therefore, will be increased in value only as they are rendered more 
desirable as sites for villas and nn^al residences, and can never hope 
to command such prices as those around the Central Park, every 
foot of which will be occupied with streets and buildings. The 
Schuylkill river, flowing through it for a distance of four or five 
miles, will give to the Philadelphia park a character which is rarely 
attainable, and an object of great sanitary importance will be 
secured by preventing for that distance the contamination of the 
water by noxious sewerage. The country on each side comprises 
such a variety of beautiful and picturesque scenery as would seem 
to require little artificial aid to increase its attractions, but Philadel- 
phia will not be satisfied with any less elaborate display than New 
York, and to carry out the same style of engineering and architec- 
tural adornment wliicli have been adopted in the Central Park would 
involve an expense which is not required by the situation, or iustiiic-d 
by any probability of proportionate returns. 

DRUID HILL PARK. 

P>altiinore is rich in the possession of Druid Hill Park — a 
tract of upwards of '^wg hundred acres, comprising o-j-eat natural 



6 The Tme Charm of a Park. 

beauty in the form of the ground, and the fine natural growth of 
wood with which a large portion of it is covered. It is easily 
accessible from the city, and its variety of surface affords opportu- 
nities which have been tastefully improved for securing pretty vistas 
and unexpected changes of scene, while following the roads and 
paths which wind among its hills and valleys, and through the grand 
old forests, which give them an attractive interest to the citizen who 
seeks to escape from the artificial surroundings of his daily life, of a 
higher character than can be attained by the use of ornate structui-es 
and elaborate dressing of nature. The true charm of a park should 
consist in the development of natural features of beauty and interest, 
as a relief from the purely artificial objects which constitute the city. 
Architectural ornament is offensive, except as it may be introduced of 
necessity, as in the case of bridges or buildings of obvious convenience ; 
and the design in all such cases should be in keeping with, and sub- 
servient to, the character of the natural features about them, instead 
of challenging notice by a conspicuous display of form or color. 
Druid Hill Park is so beautiful naturally, that any unnecessary artifi- 
cial adornment would be offensive, and as yet, but little has been 
attempted of such a nature. The immediate wants of the place 
are the occasional thinning of the natural growth of wood, and the 
planting of groups of evergreens and shrubbery on various points 
of the open ground, where the eye is oppressed by the extent of 
bare hills and ridges, which seem to implore a covering for their 
baldness. 

New York, Brooklyn and Baltimore, are thus far the only cities 
in the United States which boast the actual possession of a park, 
and half a century, at least, must elapse before the Central, Prospect 
or Druid Hill Parks, will have attained such maturity of aspect, and 
become so united with the hearts of the people by association, as to 
have acquired their full capacity of physical beauty, or moral power. 
Boston, Chicago, Albany, Buffalo, besides a multitude of smaller 
cities, are agitating the subject, and examining their borders — to see 
where they can secure the land — and their resources, to see how they 
can raise the means for the accomplishment of the same object. They 
perceive that the Central Park, apart from its sanitary and moral 
influence, is an object of attractive interest to strangers, which is of 
incalculable pecuniary value to the city, and natvn'ally enough, they 
desire to follow an example, which, in her case, has proved so 
successful. Before doing so, however, would it not be well for 



Necessity for Character and Individuality. 7 

each of them to institute a careful comparison of her own situation 
and circumstances with those of New York, and see whether some 
more appropriate and becoming style of improvement might not be 
adopted than a mere repetition of such attractive features as she may 
be able to copy from the Central Park. The mere ambition to be 
able to boast of a more magnificent display of costly ornaments 
than one's neighbor, is essentially a vulgar and contemptible senti- 
ment, whether in an individual or a community, and should have no 
weight in the minds of those who are called upon to decide a ques- 
tion involving so many important interests connected with the future 
welfare of a city, as the arrangement of its parks. But every city 
has a character of its own, resulting from the nature of its situation, 
and the topography of its surroundings, as well as from its history 
and growth — and in the creation of its parks, or whatever other 
description of public grounds may be desirable for its adornment, 
and the health and recreation of its inhabitants — the aim should 
always be, if possible, to give them a character of individuality 
which shall harmonize with that of the city itself, and render them 
attractive and interesting because it is unique, rather than because 
its features ai"e more or less magnificent than those which may be 
found elsewhere. 

In order to illustrate my meaning, I propose to apply the exam- 
ination and the comparison I have suggested, to two cities, which are 
perhaps, as widely different from each other in all their characteris- 
tics, as any two in the United States, and in both of which the subject 
of parks Is now exciting a deep interest. I mean Boston and 
Chicago ; the one, as fair a representative as the country affords of 
long established habits, customs, and ways of thinking and acting, 
surrounded by a country whose features of natuial beauty can 
hardly be surpassed for variety of scenes of picturesque and attrac- 
tive interest, and almost every foot of which has been tastefully 
improved by private hands ; the other, as marked a type of the 
indomitable energy which is the most striking characteristic of the 
present day — a city which yesterday was not, and to-day is with 
one hand dispensing food to the old world, and with the other open- 
ing the resources of the new, with a sti^ength which seems to set 
natural obstacles at defiance — a city created on a marsh, and 
surrounded on every side by a plain on which nature has made no 
suggestion to art, but has simply furnished a blank, on which man 
may exercise his skill in the creation or collection of such features 



8 Scenery Aroitud I>osfon. 

and objects of interest, as may lie as unique and unprecedented in 
their character, as that of the city they adorn. 

Surely, it can need no argument beyond the mere statement of 
the case, to prove that each of these cities requires its own style of 
adornment, in keeping with its moral and physical character, and 
while each may secure to itself attractions which are perhaps equal 
in interest, they must of necessity be so difl'erent in their nature, that 
no feeling of rivalry should exist, and scarcely could a comparison 
be drawn between them. 

WHAT BOSTON MAY DO. 

To begin with Boston, it will not be difficult to demonstrate, 
first, that she has neither the necessity or the power to create a park 
such as New York has secured, without going so far beyond her 
limits as to render it comparatively of little value, and, second, 
that she may acquire at a compai'atively small expense, all the essen- 
tial advantages she could derive from a park, by the adoption of a 
system of improvements which would be original and vmique, since 
no other of our large cities possesses the means for its accomplish- 
ment, which in her case, are already in existence. 

The peninsula occupied by the city being exposed to the sea- 
breezes on three sides, and having an open space of seventy-five 
acres, comprising the Common and Public Garden on the land side, 
is in no need of further provision for ventilation, except by the pro- 
cess of widening the streets of the older parts of the city, the 
necessity for which is gradually enforcing its accomplishment. 
When the new made land of the Back Bay is covered with build- 
ings it is true that a broad area of bricks and mortar will exist, 
unbroken except by the streets, and it has been suggested that a 
portion of this territory should be reserved for a park. For sanitary 
purposes this is unnecessary, as the breadth of the streets and avenues 
will be such as to secure abundant ventilation, and the situation is 
such that it would be impossible to attain the most desirable charac- 
teristics of a park. 

If Boston attempts a park comprising any attractions of natural 
scenery, she must go beyond her own limits, or at least, into her 
lately annexed territory of Roxbury. The tract which possesses in 
itself the most desirable features for a park of any in the vicinity 
of Boston, and such as are very rarely attainable anywhere, is the 
region round about Spot Pond in Maiden, Medford, and Stoneham. 



Its Picturesque Character. 9 

The lake itself covers three hundred acres, and the country around it 
is wildly picturesque in its character, and is to a great extent unim- 
proved and in its primitive condition, and much of it is heavily 
wooded. The surface is broken by abrupt hills, and deep ravines, 
whose precipitous sides are sometimes bare, and sometimes covered 
with a growth of picturesque trees and shrubbery, and at different 
points are opened superb views of the city, the harbor and the sur- 
rounding country. And this tract may be reached by the cars in 
twenty minutes, though probably more than half the inhabitants of 
Boston are ignorant of its existence. But it is not readily available 
as a Park for Boston, because it can only be reached by a disagree- 
able ride across Charlestown Neck, and the marshes bordering Mystic 
River. In no other direction, within any reasonable distance of 
Boston, is it possible to find a tract of sufficient extent for a park, 
which is not already occupied in such a way as to give it great 
intrinsic value, apart from the speculative margin which is sure to be 
put upon it when wanted for such a purpose. Unless therefore, the 
city is prepared to assume the enormous debt which she must incur 
in purchasing these improved lands, she must go so far beyond her 
borders as to detract, in a very great degree, from the value of the 
possession. 

If, now, a citizen of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, or any 
southern or western city, who had never been in Boston, were taken 
out by a Bostonian to examine the surrounding country, with a view 
to getting his opinion as to the best position for a park, he would 
not ride a mile out of the city on any road, without expressions of 
admiration of the beauty of the natural features, and the taste which 
has been shown in their development, not only in the grounds 
pertaining to the rich villas, but in the simple and homelike char- 
acter of the smaller areas, connected with pretty cottages, and the 
thrifty and neat appearance of even the humblest abodes ; and when, 
on riding for miles and miles in any and every direction, he found 
everywhere the same evidence of taste and culture, with an ever- 
changing variety of natural scenery, of hill and dale, wood and 
lawn, ocean, river and brook, such as can be found in the vicinity 
of no other city on this continent, he might justly ask, (and the 
question is not an imaginary one,) "What do you Bostonians want 
of a park, with such wealth of natural beauty all around you, and 
almost every foot of it so tastefully improved by private hands?" 

Perhaps the question may suggest the further reflection that the 



lo A Garjueut of Plowers. 

most costly portion of the work of a park is already done, and the 
scenes of beauty and attractive interest which meet the eye are 
quite as much the property of any one who can enjoy them, as are 
those of the Central Park, where his steps are as strictly confined to 
the roads and paths as if the adjoining fields were private grounds. 
Here, then, we have an area, compared to which the Central Park is 
of trifling extent, the natural beauty of which has been so far 
improved by private hands, that one may ride for days in succession 
through continually varying scenes in which the display of individ- 
ual taste, and the character of refinement and home-comfort which 
is everywhere apparent, excite an interest of a more durable nature 
than can pertain to a tract in which nature has been elaborately 
dressed for the sole and avowed object of display. It remains only 
for Boston to avail herself of the opportunity thus offered by 
finishing and adorning the roads which wind among these charming 
scenes in a corresponding style, and she may thus appropriate their 
beauty, and instead of adorning herself with a single costlv bouquet, 
she may clothe herself with a garment of flowers which has been 
woven for her by the hands of her children. The expenditure of a 
comparatively small sum, in the manner above suggested, would make 
a park of the whole surrounding country, which would exert a 
higher and wider moral influence than could possiblv be attained 
by the appropriation of any single tract to the purpose. The labor 
and consequent cost could also be divided through a series of years 
and shared with the towns within whose limits the improvements 
were made, though in order to preserve unitv of design their, 
general direction should be governed by one head. The work should 
begin by choosing a certain section whose limits should be governed 
by the means at command for its improvement, and the special require- 
ments of the situation. Of these, the first to be considered sliould 
be its thorough drainage ; then the construction of the roads, and 
finally the tasteful arrangement of the roadsides. The drainage and 
road-making would, of course, be entrusted to a competent engineer ; 
but the adornment of the roadsides should be designed and directed 
by an artist of the best attainable class. The danger to be appre- 
hended, which will present itself to the mind of every man of taste 
who considers the subject, will be that of too elaborate a displav of 
decorative art, which in many places would be glaringly offensive 
from its incongruity with the prevailing character of the adioining 
grounds. The general tone should be that of simplicitv, and the 



12 The Dead Level Arou)id Chicago. 

eflect by being of graceful and attractive architectural design, and 
they should be of such form and material as would preserve them 
from liability to injury or decay. 

Enough has been said to convey the general idea that Boston has 
it in her power, by merely developing the attractions which nature and 
art have already furnished, to secure for herself such a character of 
artistic beauty as no other city on the continent could compete with. 
Any one who has been familiar with the progress of the city and its 
surroundings, for the last thirty years, will perceive on comparing 
her present and past conditions that the growth of civilization and 
refinement throughout the whole period has been marked quite as 
distinctly by improvement in taste and artistic culture, as by 
devices for promoting physical comfort and convenience, and the 
next and most obvious step in the onward course is the one here 
indicated. It is one which is justly due to the thousands of suburban 
residents, who have done so much towards rendering the city attrac- 
tive by clothing the surrounding hills and fields with beautv, and 
an obvious eflect of the measure will be to animate every one whose 
estate is approached or bounded by such an avenue, to adorn and 
preserve his own grounds in corresponding style, and thus the work 
would be everywhere exerting a silent but most effective influence in 
elevating and directing the taste and knowledge of the people at 
large. I submit the plan to the consideration of the citizens of 
Boston, and respectfully ask them to put to themselves the questions : 
Is it not the most simple and practicable scheme that can be devised 
for providing all that is most desirable in a park ? Is it not the one 
most naturally and obviously resulting from the advantages already 
secured and which even now give to Boston a peculiar character, of 
which this will be the ultimate development and crowning charm.? 
And, finally is it not time to set about the work ? 

WHAT CHICAGO MAY DO. 

What Boston finds it impossible to accomplish in the third cen- 
tury of her existence, Chicago is preparing to do in her third decade. 
With a wise forethought she has secured and appropriated lands for 
her parks while they are still unoccupied ; unoccupied for the most 
part even by a tree or a shrub, a hill or a stone. The city and the 
country around it, with the exception of a narrow strip on the lake 
shore, is a dead level extending in every direction almost as far as the 
eye can reach. Along the shore of the lake are slight elevations of 



■' A Suggestion to Bostojiians. 1 1 

efibrt should be only to de^•elop natural beauty by the use of natural 
means. In places where the villa residences were in close proximity 
with each other and the grounds carefully dressed, the roadsides 
should be finished correspondingly ; yet even in such cases oppor- 
tunities might offer for the exercise of taste in the planting of trees, 
by studying the form of the adjacent grounds, or the natural growth 
already existing and taking therefrom the key note for the further 
carrying out of nature's suggestion, instead of planting a formal row 
of a single variety of trees on each side. In the more secluded and 
least populous neighborhoods, nature might be more closely copied 
in the planting as well as shaping the grounds, and frequent oppor- 
tunities might be secured for creating scenes of attractive rural 
beauty, or of picturesque effect, by simple ineans which would 
readily suggest themselves to a skilful artist. Tracts of land, of 
greater or less extent, which possessed no special value as building 
sites, might occasionally be purchased at comparativelv low prices, 
and indeed it is not improbable that owners of real estate might con- 
tribute portions of their land for purposes of public impro\ement 
even if actuated by no higher motive than self-interest. Such tracts 
might be improved as gardens or small parks, and rendered attrac- 
tive by the aid of natural or artificial objects of interest, or by appro- 
priating them to a special purpose, as a cricket ground, a place for 
target practice, or a race course for velocipedes ; though if these sug- 
gestions are carried out, the lovers of the last named exercise may 
run their machines on any road in the vicinity of the city. 

The question will probably arise in the mind of every thoughtful 
man, whether the people at large can be trusted with the preserva- 
tion of so widely extended a territory, adorned in the style suggested ; 
whether so large a police force would not be required to prevent 
depredations and vandalisms as virtually to render it impracticable. 
To this the reply is, that good taste would prevent the introduction 
of any kind of ornamentation on the roads which would seem to 
invite the spirit of row^dyism to active exercise. The highways 
should simply be rendered attractive by the tasteful introduction of 
objects of natural beauty and interest, and no artificial structures 
should be admitted for merely ornamental purposes, but only for 
those of obviovis utility. These would consist of bridges, for cross- 
ing streams, railroads or ravines, fountains or watering places for the 
refreshment of man or beast, and seats or resting places for pedes- 
trians. All of these might be made to contribute to the general 



A Di [Tint It Pro/i/c/n in bo Solved. T3 

sandy soil, which, in contrast with the perfectly Hat snrface which 
prevails everywhere else, may be called hills, and these are, to some 
fextent, clothed with a j^rowth of youno- oaks. The shore is a sandy 
beach, without a bay or a projecting headhuul, and the view from it 
is simply across the waters to tlie horizon, unbroken even by an 
island or a rock. Areas, of several hundred acres each, have been 
reserved for parks on the north, west and south of the city, and these 
are to be connected by a grand avenue, or " boulevard," three hun- 
dred feet in width and fourteen miles long. With the exception of 
the portions which lie upon the lake shore, all of these parks, and 
the whole length of the boulevard, are necessarily located upon the 
flat surface which surrounds the city, and the problem to be solved 
is, by what arrangement they can be rendered attractive and inter- 
esting as places of recreation and refreshment to the citizens. No 
one who has made himself accj^uainted with the past history of the 
city, and the resources of the vast country of which Chicago is the 
natural outlet, can have any doubt that before many years, the area 
which has been thus reser\ed will be enclosed within thickly peopled 
streets and avenues, and the question, by what means is it possible 
to give to ai'eas so utterly devoid of character, an expression of 
natural beauty, and secure enough variety to relieve their monotony? 
is one which must present itself to every one, and is certainly not an 
easy one to answer. But nothing is to be gained by shirking the fact, 
and trusting that the ordinary devices of the landscape gardener will 
suffice for so extraordinary an occasion. The ordinary means of 
relief which are available here, consist of alterations of the shape of 
the ground, the introduction of water in the forms of lakes, streams 
and fountains, and the use of trees, shrubs and flowers in planta- 
tions. But everything must be created. Nature has not even offered 
a suggestion for art to develop. The labor of making alterations of 
the surface of the ground is so enormous that man's utmost efforts 
are paltry and insignificant in comparison with the works of nature, 
and it is very rare that anything like a natural expression can be 
gi\en to an artificial hill. Still it must be resorted to more or less, 
and on the parks, if skilfully managed, and confined to simple and 
graceful forms, without attempting the picturesque or the sublime, 
which would certainly result in the ridiculous, much may be thus 
effected, especially in contrast with water, and with a tasteful 
arrangement of trees and shrubl)er\ . In fact the management of 
the parks will be comj:)arati\ elv easy, the great danger being that in 



14 VV/iat Shall We do ■with the Botdevards. 

inefficient hands the effort at decoration may lapse into the use of 
mere pueriHties and trickeries. But the effort, under such difficulties 
as the case involves, to give variety and interest to the Boulevard, 
is one which is truly appalling. Very little variation of the surface 
can here be resorted to without becoming simply ridiculous, from 
the narrow limits to which it must be confined. Three hiuidred 
feet it is true, is a grand breadth for an avenue, but a very narrow 
space on which to operate in creating variety of natural scenery 
for a distance of fourteen miles, without a single natural elevation 
or depression by the wayside for the whole distance, to sustain the 
appearance of any inequality which might be artificially introduced. 
The drive way, extending throughout its whole length, should be 
not less than sixty feet wide. To carry it straight from end to end 
would be fearfully formal and dreary, yet to make a turn in a road, 
without anv obvious necessity or object, is a violation not only of 
the rules of landscape gardening, but of common sense. 

When Mr. "Capability" Brown (as he was nicknamed in con- 
sequence of one of his favorite expressions,) created in the last 
century a revolution in the old geometric manner of arranging 
grounds, in England, by the introduction of what was termed the 
"natural style," he was for a time, regarded as the arbiter of taste, 
and every one was so delighted w^ith the change from angles to 
curved lines, that it was not at first perceived that in his zeal to hit 
upon the line of beauty, which he fancied to consist in a series of 
graceful curves, he had fallen into an equally formal system as the 
one he condemned ; so that one of his critics remarked of his serpen- 
tine paths, canals, etc., that you might walk from one end to the 
other, stepping first upon zig, and then upon zag, for the whole 
length. And this kind of formality is the danger which is most to 
be apprehended in the construction of such a drive as the one we 
are considering, for, whenever, by the introduction of water, or plan- 
tations, or whatever object may be devised, a reason is furnished for 
a variation from a straight course, the necessity immediately stares 
us in the face of providing something on the other side, to turn it 
back again, before it reaches the boundary within which it must be 
retained, and the continuation of such variations, with a repetition 
of scenes of woodland, lawn and water, which, however tastefully 
arranged, must consist essentially of the same elements of attractive 
interest, would result eventually in a monotony of variety^ scarcely 
less fatiguing than that of the straight road. 



The Primary Object of Parks. 15 

In considering the means of overcoming this difficulty, by resort 
to other sources of interest than those which are ordinarily employed, 
the fact must never be lost sight of, that the primary object of a park 
is to minister to the hcaltli and recreation of the citizens ; to provide 
a place for the indulgence of such rational pleasures and amuse- 
ments, public gatherings and displays, as are inadmissible in the 
ordinary thoroughfares of the city, and the first duty of those w^ho 
have the work in charge, is to make such arrangement of the natural 
and artificial objects of attraction, and such a disposition of the 
roads, walks, and open spaces, as may best serve that end ; and 
nothing should be admitted as a permanent feature, which conflicts, 
or tends to the disturbance of the sense of rest and refreshment. 
Thus we should exclude from its precincts, museums and collections 
of works of art, because by their presence they invite examination 
and study, which cannot be indulged without exertion and fatigue. 
Even zoological collections, for the same reason, should be exclu- 
ded from the actual precincts of a park, though they, as well as 
museums of art, and natural science, may be very properly located 
in its immediate neighborhood. In so far, however, as objects of 
natural interest, or artistic skill may be made to conduce to the 
general effect, and add to the beauty of the place, they are not only 
admissible but exceedingly desirable. Statues, vases, and ornamen- 
tal structures of various kinds, may render most important service, 
and animals, whose nature and habits admit of their being left at 
liberty on the grounds, may contribute very greatly to the beauty 
and attractive interest of the scene. Perhaps a majority of those 
who seek relief and relaxation from the fatigue and care of daily 
toil will be satisfied with the mere enjoyment of scenes of natural 
beauty ; with rambling or resting under the trees, looking upon 
verdant lawns, and inhaling the perfume of flowers. The escape from 
the din and turmoil of the streets, is to the multitude whose lives are 
passed in the city, a source of inexpressible enjoyment, and the object 
of a park being to aftbrd such relaxation, we should seek so far as 
possible, to rely for the purpose upon there sources which nature her- 
self has furnished. In the present case, nature has denied us manv of 
the features which have been commonly considered indispensible to 
the full development of her charms, and art can only supply their want 
to a limited extent. The question then arises, is it not possible to 
devise such an arrangement of the objects of natural interest which 
we can control, as to develop eftects which have no where else been 



1 6 TJic Z.at?dsrapr Gardener and the Botanist. 

attempted, and render them so intrinsically attractive, that the want of 
those which we cannot command will not be felt. 

I tliink the question may safel}' be answered in the affirmative, 
and I proceed to the consideration of some of the means by which 
it would seem that the end may be attained, though in its development 
in construction, no doubt very many features would suggest themselves 
to the mind, which had not previously been thought of. 

The landscape gardener is accustomed, in arranging his planta- 
tions to rely for elTect on the adaptation of the ditlerent varieties of 
trees and shrubs to the situation and its surroundings, and on the 
mingling of such varieties as will produce a harmonious lilending of 
form and color. Thus, on a broken and picturesque tract, his plan- 
tations are wild and irregular in form — the groups running into each 
other confusedly, and the individual evergreen, or deciduous trees, 
selected from such varieties as ai'e by their nature of striking char- 
acter, or liable to assume quaint and peculiar forms. On gently 
undulating ground, he makes use of such trees as are naturally grace- 
ful and symmetrical, such as the tulip tree, the elm, the ash, or the 
maple. On low ground, and in the vicinity of water, he makes use 
of the weeping elm, willow, and birch — the object in each case 
being the further development of the effect, of which nature has 
given the key-note. No attention, whatever, is paid to the arrange- 
ment of trees according to botanical order, the only object being to 
secure the desired expression. In fact, it is rarely that the landscape 
gardener makes use, to any great extent, of a single family of trees, 
to the exclusion of all others, and there is certainly a strong 
temptation when directing such work, to mingle varieties, with 
the idea of thus creating variety. Yet it has often a very contrary 
effect, and a much more striking expression may be secured by 
massing those of the same kind together. I do not of course mean 
that in the arrangement of plantations on any given area, I would 
have one group to consist entirely of oaks, another of maples, and 
a third of elms, and so on, though even in that method a more 
decided character could be conferred, than by having each group 
made up of specimens of every variety — which simply fritters away 
all effect, and leaves a confused impression on the mind. 

The botanist, on the other hand, disdains the arts of the land- 
scape gardener, and in arranging an arboretum, aims only to secure 
specimens of as many varieties of trees as possible, and plants them 
so that eacli individual may have the most favorable opportunity to 



Hoxv lo Solve the Boulevard Prol^/c/n. 17 

exhiliit its peculiar characteristics — no reiijartl, whatever, hciiij^ paid 
to general etVect, or its harmonious blending with its neighbors. 

Now, I am confident that the tw^o arts — or, perhaps I should say, 
the art and the science — may be brought into close communion 
with each other with perfect harmon}', and with satisfactory results ; 
and on this union I base the principle on which I propose that 
the plantations of the Boulevard shall be made. Let the avenue 
form in its whole extent, an arboretum, comprising every variety 
of tree and shrub which will thrive in this climate, each family occu- 
pying a distinct section, of greater or less extent, according to its 
importance, in which all the skill of the gardener's art may be 
displayed, but in which all the artistic eflect shall be produced by 
the use of varieties of the single family to which the portion is 
appropriated. 

The objection to this plan will at once arise in most minds, that 
it will be impossible by means of it, to avoid a formal character, or 
give any essential variety of expression, and in fact, would serve 
only to increase the monotony. If this were true, or if the tendency 
of the arrangement should be to convey the idea of a scientific 
collection, it would be a sufficient reason for its abandonment. 
No such necessity however exists, and a consideration of some 
of the facts of the case, will suffice to dissipate the apprehension. 
Bearing in mind what has recently been said in regard to massing 
together trees of the same kind, instead of mingling different kinds 
indiscriminately, a little reflection will show, that in driving through 
such an avenue as the proposed Boulevard, a much more effective 
sense of variety could be secured by the former, than the latter plan. 
Suppose, for instance, that a visitor enters the avenue at a point at 
which the plantations consist entirely of maple ; there are upwards 
of thirty varieties of this tree, and their arrangement should be such 
as to exhibit their capacity for effect in various ways — as, in rows 
for lining a straight avenue, for which the sugar and white maples 
are peculiarly fitted by their si/e and symmetry : as single trees, or 
in groups upon a lawn — in whicli groups, by the way, it woidd be 
consistent with the plan to introduce occasional sj)ecimens of other 
trees, in order to show what kinds woidd coml>ine cflcctivelv with the 
maple in form and color — and, indeed, many of the less important trees, 
or such as are deiicient in variety might be introduced o?t/y in such 
ways, as pendants to more distinguished families. Vines and shrubs 
might, of course, be used as freely as need be, and it would be easy 



iS The Materials at Command. 

with their aid to create with all the ditierent maples, such varied 
effects as would pre\ ent the interest Irom flagging for a very consid- 
erable extent of the tract. Proceetling onward, the attention of the 
visitor is suddenly aroused to the fact that the whole character of 
the scene is changed : he is traversing a grove of oaks, and although 
he may have time and again seen oak and maple trees growing 
together in the woods, without a thought of their difference, he 
cannot fail to be struck by the different effect of the two when thus 
contrasted in masses. There are one hundred and fifty species of 
oaks, of which the great majority may be grown in this climate. 
They vary in height from five or six, to eighty or ninety feet, and 
their foliage assumes a wonderful variety of forms ; from the broad, 
glossy, arabesque leaf of the Blackjack, to the narrow, pointed leaf of 
the Willow Oak, which can hardly be distinguished from that of the 
tree from which it takes Its name. 

Surely the landscape gardener need be at no loss for materials to 
produce effects, with such variety of form, color and foliage at his 
command, and no one can fail to perceive that the attracti^•e interest 
of each section, would be >ery much greater, and that of the whole 
better sustained, by such a system of concentration. For each 
division would have, if properly managed, so distinct and attractive 
a character of its own, as to excite a pleasing emotion by the 
mere sense of change ; whereas, in the ordinary methods of 
planting, however tasteful in execution, the result could be only a 
series of pleasing scenes, which must 'ere long become tiresome 
from their very sameness and want of distinctive character. I have 
named but two kinds of trees, as illustrations of mv meaning. If 
the reader will now call to mind the varieties of trees in common 
use for ornamental purposes, such as the Elm, Ash, Beech, Birch, 
Tulip, Chestnut, Walnut, &c., and then those of inferior size, as 
the Hornbeam, Dog-wood, and Judas Tree, to say nothing of the 
more rare varieties which may be introduced, and the multitudes of 
beautiful shrubs and vines which may be skillfully used in conjunc- 
tion with them, he will, I think, acknowledge the possibility of 
creating with them an almost endless variety. And when, in addi- 
tion to the deciduous trees, he opens the list of evergreens, and tries 
to imagine the effects which may be produced by the use of the 
different Pines, Firs, Spruces, Cedars, Junipers, &c., his apprehensions 
will perhaps be excited lest the area should be insufficient for their 
display. 



The Unique Character of the Work. 19 

At all events, is it not evident tliat l)y these means the sense of 
monotony would be entirely relie\ed,and so varied a character given 
to the different portions of the tract that each woidd possess an 
attractive power of its own, and form an objective point for deciding 
the course of a drive, which otherwise would be entered upon 
with a feeling of indifference as to locality? With the realization 
of this idea, Chicago would be in possession of a public promenade, 
perfectly unique in its character, and of an arboretimi in which the 
vai'ieties of trees, instead of appearing as individual specimens, 
would be rejDresented in such numbers as to display their character- 
istics in all the situations in which they appear in nature, or to which 
they may be appropriately adapted by art. Such an arboretum does 
not exist in the world, and it is surely unnecessary to enlarge upon 
the value and interest of such a collection to the people of the West, 
or to the countless throngs who will make Chicago a resting place 
on their journey thither. 

I trust that the comparison I have drawn between the two cities 
may have proved the point with which I started, that every city 
should adapt the style of arrangement of her public grounds to the 
peculiar characteristics of her condition and topographical features. 
Chicago could by no possibility adopt the design I have proposed 
for Boston ; it would be absurd for Boston to attempt the one I have 
suggested for Chicago ; and for either to attempt to vie with the 
Central Park, by simply imitating its style of arrangement, would 
result in nothing satisfactory, because in nothing characteristic. 
Whereas, each may, by the means suggested, secure to herself a 
source of attractive interest, entirely consonant with good taste, and 
full of the racy flavor of individuality, a quality which we, as a 
people, should omit no opportunity to secure, since the tendency in 
everything is towards the dreary uniformity of machine work. 

I have made no special allusion to the parks of Chicago, as dis- 
tinguished from the boulevard, and, indeed, I have rather endeav- 
ored, in the illustration I have given, to convey my idea of what 
should be the governing principle, than to enter into any details of 
execution. That principle may be said to consist in making such 
skillful and artistic use of naturally attractive objects as to give an 
intrinsic interest to every portion of the area, which would absorb 
the attention, and prevent the mind from dwelling upon its defi- 
ciencies. The principle is equally applicable to the parks, and it 
is susceptible of almost endless variety in the elaboration of its 



zo Tiic Future of Cliicago. 

details. The park.s have tlic same diihciilties to overcome in their 
construction whicli have ah'eady l)een descril)ed, and which cannot 
be met by the orcHnary resources. On the other hand, they are to 
form conspicuous ornaments of a city whose magnificence will result 
from the fact that she is to be the eastern portal of a region whose 
wealth and power cannot be measured by anything the world has 
yet seen. In the exhibition of all that may serve to illustrate that 
power, Chicago may find the appropriate materials for her adorn- 
ment, and in the admiration and interest which they will excite the 
trifling deficiencies of the immediate locality will be forgotten. 



H. W. S. Cleveland, 

LANDSCAPE ARCHITEr^T. 



Formerly of the firm of COPELAND & CLEVELAND, Boston. 



SURVEYS MADE AND DESIONS FURNISHED 



KOR THE ARRANGEMENT OF 



TIHmges, Farls, Cem^t'eries Einii Private Estate^,. 



I^:E3:PEE,EIs^CES 



K. S. CHESBROUGH, Esq., City Kr 
S. S, GRKELKY, Esq., City Survey 
.IAS. H. BOWEX. Esq.. 

S. S. H.4YES, Esq 

J. MASON I'ARKER, Esq.. - 
BROUN BROTHERS, - 
A. H. HOVEY, Esq.. 



Chicago, 
Chicago, 
Chicago, 
Cliicago 
Chicago 
Chicago, 
Cliicatro 



Hon. G. S. HILLARI), Boston. 

GEO. B. EMERSON, Es,|., ... - Boston. 
NATH'L THAYER, Esq., .... Boston. 
Dr. ISAAC RAY, late of ButlcrHospit'l. Providence, R.I. 
Hon. RICHARD S. FIELD, . - - Princeton, N. .). 
DAVID LA.NDRETH, Esq., - - Philadelphia. 
.T. .1. SMITH, Es.)., .... Philadelphia. 



JV'o. 115 M^Di^o^ ^^rmEET^ 



R„„i), jV«. /. 



CHICAGO, II. 1.. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



111 nil nlilliii llii iiii '''•"'' "" ""'" 
016 097 200 2 • 



